Deuteronomy 23:17-18

Deuteronomy 23:17-18

[17] There shall be no whore  of the daughters  of Israel,  nor a sodomite  of the sons  of Israel.  [18] Thou shalt not bring  the hire  of a whore,  or the price  of a dog,  into the house  of the LORD  thy God  for any vow:  for even both  these are abomination  unto the LORD  thy God. 

What does Deuteronomy 23:17-18 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Israelites were not to become or to dedicate their children as cult prostitutes, as the Canaanites did. They were not to offer to God money earned by prostitution to pay for a vow to Him either. The "dog" ( Deuteronomy 23:18) was a male sanctuary prostitute (cf. Revelation 22:15). Such men were common in Canaanite religion. [1] The Hebrew terms used here to describe cult prostitutes (qedesa and qades) set them off from regular Israelites who practiced prostitution (zonah and keleb). Obviously any type of prostitution violated the spirit if not the letter of the seventh commandment.
God"s people should not rationalize immoral behavior by thinking that it will result in the greater glory of God (cf. Romans 6:1-2; Acts 5).